


Never Apart From You

by dreamchapel



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Romance, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Recovery, so much happens
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-16
Updated: 2020-01-27
Packaged: 2020-10-20 02:09:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20667575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamchapel/pseuds/dreamchapel
Summary: //Never Apart AU--An alternate timeline where, upon their split, Vanitas and Ventus remained under Xehanort's training together for 4 more years before being handed over to Master Eraqus for mysterious reasons...--Vanitas and Ventus have just been thrust into a new life, a new world that they don't recognize, and new people they've never heard of before. On top of all the anxiety and confusion, the two of them have been struck with heavy amnesia, and the only thing they can even begin to recall is each other. And lying beneath it all is a terrible secret and a new phase to a plan that everybody but one very sly person is completely unaware of...





	1. Begin Again

**Author's Note:**

> HELLO the first chapter for this monster of an AU fic is finally here!! also the number of chapters is just an estimation for now since i actually don't know how much of this i'll plan to write, it may be more/less but it'll be a Lot either way!!! i hope you all enjoy this fic i've been extremely excited to start work on!!

_ That’s the last time the two of you will ever attempt to thwart me. _

The venomous voice reverberated through the air, and was then followed by a wave of indescribable pain and the gut-wrenching sensation of everything, _ everything _ being torn to shreds and sucked away into an endless, abyssal void of nothingness.   
That was all the two estranged boys could recall as they were dragged by their arms to a place unknown. The tight grip around them was familiar—yet uncomfortably foreign. Their eyes darted around frantically; a pair of ruby red and emerald green irises scanned their surroundings to no avail. 

Nothing. Nothing was recognizable. 

The longer the hard, rough ground beneath tore at their frail bodies and the longer the unrelenting grip of a cold hand tugged away at them, the less the two boys could remember, could see, could think, could _ feel _ .   
All of what was left of them vanished into the deepest parts of their shattered, pathetic excuses for hearts, never to return to the surface and never to give way to any digging and prodding they could ever endure in the future.   
  
Two pairs of eyes landed on each other in an existence that had been eradicated all too suddenly.  
Upon their meeting, something sparked between the two splintered hearts. The spark grew and grew the longer the ruby and emerald stares pierced each other.

With that, two splintered hearts reconnected.

_ Let’s begin again…_

* * *

* * *

_  
_“Eraqus, my dearest friend, I understand we have unresolved quarrels together.” The hoarse, quiet voice from Xehanort was filled to the brim with guilt.

“But, please, if nothing else, take these two students of mine.”

Master Eraqus glanced down at the two boys who crouched below their master, holding each other with a tightly bound grip as though they would perish if they didn’t have one another to anchor themselves to. He could hear the quick, shaky breaths and nonsensical mumbles of what he could only assume to be words of comfort pass through their lips.   
Needless to say, he was put off by their questionable state.

“You see, Eraqus,” Xehanort began, averting his eyes away from his apprentices. “I’ve had these two with me for the past 4 years, and I did what I could to keep them far from darkness...but, despite my efforts, I’ve found they only feed into each other's darkness…” 

Eraqus blinked in surprise upon hearing this, confused by the words of his friend. He allowed him to continue on with his explanation uninterrupted, though.

“I haven’t the heart to separate them from each other, as they’ve grown used to being training partners, but I cannot continue to allow them such a connection.”

Xehanort stepped around the trembling, hunched over bodies to stand closer to Eraqus, bowing his head ever so slightly in a respectful manner.

“Eraqus, I feel that you are the only one who can truly help these boys leave their darkness behind. All I ask is that you train them both, but keep them separated during their sessions. Please, teach them what I’ve been unable to.” 

A delicate hand upon his shoulder and a timid nod was all the convincing Eraqus needed to accept such an offer from his dear companion.

“Of course, old friend,” Eraqus smiled weakly as he spoke, resting his hand upon Xehanort’s shoulder.   
“I’ll be happy to take these two off your hands, and I’ll do whatever I must to ensure their safety.” 

Xehanort let out a low, satisfied hum and nodded once more before stepping backwards. He took one last look at the cowering beings huddled on the floor. His face contorted into a sly grin that bore into the very souls of the confused and terrified teens.  
Just as Xehanort was about to bid his farewells to them, two pairs of footsteps rushed towards the entrance to the hallway.  
  
Eraqus and Xehanort turned to face the source of the footsteps. There stood two Keyblade wielders, their eyes wide and their expressions unreadable as they both stared at the shivering people on the ground.

“Ah, Aqua, Terra, you’ve come at the perfect time,” Eraqus greeted the two young adults. “My dearest friend, Xehanort, has brought us two new apprentices.” He gestured to the boys—who still had a vice grip around each other—with a tilt of his head before speaking up again. “I will be seeing that Master Xehanort is on his way, now. Why don’t the two of you introduce yourselves?” 

With that, Eraqus and Xehanort made their way down the long, glimmering hallway, heading towards the castle’s exit.  
Aqua and Terra exchanged an uncertain glance between each other as they eyeballed the boys crouched below them. 

“A-ah, hello, there,” Aqua started, her voice shaky and quiet. “My name’s Aqua, and this is Terra.” She waved her left arm towards the man standing next to her.  
The boys broke their fixation on each other and diverted their attention towards Terra and Aqua.  
Aqua felt a jolt of shock course through her chest. Never before had she seen such _ fear _in a person’s eyes. 

The blonde-haired boy spoke up first.

“Ventus…,” the boy murmured. His hands remained around the raven-haired boy’s waist and shoulders, and with a sense of dread, Aqua realized he was shielding the boy, as though she and Terra were a threat.  
Trying to ignore the strange behavior, Aqua continued in the kindest manner that she could.

“Nice to meet you, Ventus. Who’s this with you?”   
  
Her question was met only with a glare, and her heart lurched further as Ventus’s cold, emerald gaze pierced right through her, bearing no friendliness within it. 

“His name is Vanitas.” Ventus’s statement was short and his tone was icy. Terra stepped in this time before Aqua could muster a response.

“So, how’d you two end up here?” Terra was curious and friendly as well, but didn’t allow Ventus’s aloofness to faze him in the same way that Aqua did.   
  
Ventus’s façade shattered instantly.  
  
His eyes widened and his head lowered as Vanitas reacted to the sudden question as well, shrinking into him more and more, holding onto him tighter and tighter. Ventus’s eyes darted around frantically as he wracked his brain for an answer to the query. 

“I… I—”

Ventus was cut off by fast-approaching footsteps. All four of them whipped their heads up to see Master Eraqus returning to meet with them, Xehanort no longer by his side. 

“Terra, Aqua, I have a favor to ask of you before anything else,” Eraqus stated his request in a stern voice. “We must keep Ventus and Vanitas separated for the time being.”  
  
Ventus and Vanitas simultaneously felt their limbs go numb. 

“N-no!!” 

Terra, Aqua, and Eraqus snapped their heads to face Vanitas, who had cried out the word. 

“P-please, please don’t, please, please, please!!” Vanitas’s desperation grew and grew until his shouts graduated into frantic shrieks and begging. Terra was quick to respond as he made his way towards Ventus, and Aqua quickly followed suit, running to place herself behind Vanitas. 

“L-let go!! Let _ go _ !!”   
Another broken shout from Vanitas split the air. Paying no mind to this, Terra and Aqua pulled Ventus and Vanitas apart abruptly, holding back their arms as the two boys began flailing and screaming. Legs swung and arms waved as they were dragged away from each other. 

“_LET GO OF HIM!!” _An ear-piercing cry of fury sounded from Ventus.

“Ventus!! Ventus, Ventus, _ VENTUS!!” _ A repeated, agonized wail tore through Vanitas’s throat.   
  
Vanitas dug his soles into the floor, and his muscles screamed in pain as he violently pulled himself forward, trying to escape Aqua’s grasp as though he were helpless prey caught in the jaws of a hungry predator.   
His arms reached out in front of him, clawing at empty air as Ventus was tugged away from him in the same fashion.

“Get your hands OFF OF _ HIM _ !!” Ventus roared, and Aqua suddenly realized with horror that even Terra was struggling to keep the enraged boy in his arms.   
  
Aqua was terrified. What was the point of this? Why did these two have to be separated?   
Suddenly, Aqua felt a hard elbow ram into her gut. The impact caused her to collapse to her knees as she clutched her aching stomach. Vanitas pushed her out of the way and sprinted towards Terra and Ventus.

“Stop this NOW!”

A bright flash of white filled the dim hallway, and the sound of two bodies hitting the ground reverberated against the marble walls.   
Eraqus stood with his Keyblade raised high above his head. Ventus and Vanitas were sprawled across the floor, only mere inches away from each other. Their left arms stretched out towards one another as their sleeping forms lay still against the cold floor. Eraqus let out a shaky sigh before turning to Aqua and Terra once more.

“Aqua, Terra, take these two to separate rooms on opposite sides of the castle. Do not leave your stations for any reason, even after they’ve awoken.” Eraqus’s demand was short and to-the-point, and he wore a forlorn expression.

Aqua and Terra’s muscles ached from the tense encounter. With shaky arms, they each lifted up Ventus and Vanitas respectively, then turned away from each other to head down opposing sides of the hallway, all the while a heavy and sinking feeling weighed down upon their minds. 

* * *

* * *

_  
Ventus, don’t leave me here alone _.

Vanitas opened his eyes to find himself standing in an empty, silent void. His heart pounded relentlessly, and his arms felt slightly numb as he gripped the handle of a Keyblade in his left arm.   
In front of him stood the beautiful, blonde-haired Keyblade wielder he proudly called his partner. All of the fear, pain, and anxiety left Vanitas in an instant as his heart swelled with love and longing. 

“Ventus!” Vanitas shouted, stretching his right arm out towards the other boy. He yelped as a sudden jolt of pain coursed through his right arm, and at the same moment, he noticed Ventus staring down at the ground, his head lowered and his face invisible behind the messy blonde spikes of hair that hung low.

Vanitas opted to sprint towards him instead, dropping his Keyblade and clutching his right arm tightly as splashes of water droplets beneath him were flung upwards by his heavy boots with each step.   
He closed the distance between himself and Ventus in a matter of moments, and held out his left arm to delicately caress the soft skin of his cheeks—only to be frozen in his tracks mere inches away from touching Ventus. A loud gasp came from Ventus as his head shot upwards.

Vanitas shrieked in pure terror at the sight. Ventus’s face was now completely featureless and blank. His lovely green eyes, his soft lips, his warm smile—all of it had vanished as though he were a simple mannequin. Vanitas tried to scream out once more, but no voice left his throat.   
  
Again, the feeling of everything that made him and Ventus _ real _ being pulled away and forever erased returned like a crashing wave. His lungs felt as though they were filled with liquid and sand, burning with desperate screeches and cries for help that couldn’t make it past his lips, all the while the faceless Ventus stood hunched and motionless, still barely grazing Vanitas’s fingertips.

Dark, inky blackness finally overtook the two unnatural, misplaced beings as one final cry spilled from Vanitas’s mouth.

* * *

* * *

  
“_Vanitas! _” 

Vanitas’s eyes flew open at the harsh sound of his name being called grating against his skull. He threw himself forward and crashed into a hard, wooden bed frame that he had noticed too late. 

“Ah—!” 

Vanitas panicked and began to cry out for help as he stumbled over his own tangled limbs and soft sheets that surrounded him. 

“Vanitas, calm down, it's okay!” 

Though the words were meant to be of comfort, his heart only lurched with terror as he spotted a tall woman inching towards him slowly. 

“L-leave me alone!” Vanitas begged, his voice cracking as a sob forced its way up and out of his lungs. 

“Vanitas, it’s just me, Aqua! I’m not going to hurt you,” Aqua reassured, though her words still didn’t calm Vanitas any as he pushed himself into the tightest corner of his bed that he could, trembling and barely holding back a flood of tears. 

“Where’s Ventus?!” Vanitas shouted instinctively as his senses began returning to him.  
Aqua glanced behind her and bit her lip, clearly uncomfortable with the question, but expecting it nonetheless. She stopped moving towards Vanitas and instead knelt down next to his bed in hopes that it would help him feel safer.

“Vanitas, you can’t see Ventus right now,” she began softly, but clenched her teeth as Vanitas began to shout again.

“I _ have _ to see him! Please, I’m begging you, take me to him right now!” Vanitas’s pleas made Aqua’s heart ache with heaviness, but she persevered with the strict orders she was given. 

“No, Vanitas. Our master ordered us to keep the two of you separate for your own safety.”  
  
Vanitas responded with an agonized wail, and Aqua sprang to her feet when she noticed something taking shape within the boy’s shadow. A small, inhuman creature formed and pulled itself apart from Vanitas’s shadow. It was a deep shade of burgundy with long, pink antennae. Aqua gasped loudly, immediately summoning her Keyblade to attack the strange creature.

“No, stop!!”

Aqua halted and whipped her head towards Vanitas, who leaned forward and swept the small monster into his arms, protecting it from her as he cradled it gently. 

“Please, don’t hurt it,” Vanitas began, his voice weary and broken. “They’re harmless, they’re just… manifestations of my feelings….” Vanitas stared down at the small, twitching Unversed that had stretched itself comfortably across Vanitas’s lap as though it were an affectionate pet.   
Aqua was hit with many conflicting thoughts and feelings regarding the explanation she was given.

_ Monsters created from his emotions? How couldn't they be a danger in some way? _

“They won’t hurt anything, and they won't attack you, they just _ are _.” Vanitas appeared even more tired after describing the monsters, as though this was some sort of explanation he didn’t want to give anybody. The small beast had fallen asleep peacefully in the boy’s arms as he continued stroking its thin, spiky antennae. Aqua breathed a slight sigh of relief upon witnessing this, but still kept her guard up. 

“But, Aqua, please, you don’t understand that I _ need _to see Ventus,” Vanitas brought the conversation back to where it had started. Aqua stood up slowly, making sure to keep her distance from Vanitas for his—and her own—comfort. 

“Vanitas, I’m willing to listen to your reasoning, but either way, Ventus isn’t available right now. He still hasn’t awoken, and he shouldn’t be disturbed—”

“What do you mean he isn’t available?!” Vanitas interrupted her with yet another shaky cry. The Flood that had nestled in between his arms woke with a start and began twitching uncomfortably again. 

“Vanitas, I just said he’s still sleeping, you can’t see him right now.” Aqua tried to regain control of the situation and go about everything in a calm and collected manner, but Vanitas refused to have any of it.

“Why won’t you just _ listen _to me?!” Another loud, pain-filled whine from Vanitas caused Aqua to throw her hands over her ears to block the sound. 

Several more Floods took shape from Vanitas’s shadow and body as he heaved in agony, tears spilling and hands shaking as he chanted out his need to see Ventus. Aqua, too, felt tears began to prick in the corners of her eyes. She felt helpless, scared, and confused—not a far-cry from all that Vanitas was feeling at that moment. 

“Vanitas! I’ll talk to Master Eraqus about this, and we’ll get everything sorted out,” Aqua finally blurted out. “Just relax, please, you need to calm down before we can do anything else.” 

Aqua’s new prospect was enough to calm the weeping Vanitas. His tears still fell as he gripped tightly onto the Floods that clung to his form, but his seemingly endless wailing and pleading died down to mere sniffling whimpers.   
Suddenly, another figure stepped through the doorway. 

“Aqua, I know we aren’t supposed to leave our stations, but I heard screaming—”

Vanitas jumped at the sight of Terra peeking through the cracked doorway, and Terra scanned the room with a bewildered, wide-eyed stare. 

“Terra, can you do me just a quick favor?” Aqua said, exasperated. Terra turned his attention to her and nodded, though still appeared puzzled by the situation at hand.

“I need to speak with the master about something. Can you keep Vanitas company until I get back?” Aqua was out of breath from the loudly emotional and taxing exchange with Vanitas, and Terra seemed to share a silent understanding with her as he answered with another firm nod. He stepped into the room and immediately was taken aback by the sight of the small monsters that had piled on top of Vanitas.

“Don't—just don’t say or do anything, I’ll explain when I get back,” Aqua finished quickly before leaving the room in a hurried sprint. 

Terra, without speaking, turned his head to the side and gave Vanitas another deer-in-the-headlights gaze. Vanitas’s lip trembled, his nerves completely shot from the series of events that had played out all too quickly for his troubled and damaged mind.

“U-uhm, Vanitas, it’s alright, I’m not gonna hurt you or… those…” Terra’s brown irises glanced down slightly, fixating on the group of Floods covering Vanitas like a blanket. The silence between the two was awkward and uncomfortable, and Vanitas remained nonverbal. He gave a slow and solemn nod of his head as to give Terra permission to continue speaking. 

“So, uh, since you’re new here, uh, uhm…” Terra failed to keep the conversation going and break the ice, but Vanitas didn’t care or process anything that was happening. He gazed off in Terra’s direction, but his focus lay on nothing as his ears rang every so slightly. “H-hey, Vanitas, I know this is all probably really scary, and… you know, maybe you can just tell me about how you’re feeling while we wait?” The sudden kind offer from Terra brought Vanitas back into reality. 

“Talk about… how I feel?” Vanitas repeated in a soft voice.   
“Yeah, maybe it’ll help take the edge off if you just… talk a little bit,” Terra continued, choosing to sit next to the bed in a similar position that Aqua had chosen prior.  
  
“I… don’t know. I just… can't remember anything about… anything? I’m just scared, and Ventus is all I remember, kind of… I just need to see him again…” 

For the first time since their arrival, Vanitas wasn’t panic-stricken or calling out his companion’s name in desperate howls. Terra was confused by Vanitas’s sudden revelation of struggling with amnesia, but felt that all would be explained soon enough.

“I see… so, what do you remember about Ventus?” Terra asked politely. Vanitas’s eyes rolled upwards slightly, his mind quickly trying to unbury any thoughts or detailed memories that it could. 

“I just remember… he and I… our hearts are connected, they always have been…” Vanitas barely understood the words that spilled from his own mouth, and his expression changed ever so slightly to reflect this confusion.

Terra felt his heart sink after hearing this; if their hearts were connected, then why did they need to be separated from each other?   
Without speaking the words that passed through his mind, Terra stood up and walked across the wooden floor to a shelf against the wall. He opened a small cabinet door within it as Vanitas watched intently. From it, Terra pulled out a small, green notebook and golden pen. The notebook cover had swirling, floral patterns that soothed Vanitas as he gazed at them.

Terra gently placed the notebook and pen by Vanitas’s side.

“It might sound a little weird, but why don’t you write some of your thoughts and feelings down? Who knows, it might help you to remember some more stuff… or just help you get some things off your chest.” Terra smiled kindly at the raven-haired boy as he walked away from the bedside once more.

“Vanitas, I’ll be right out here if you need me. I promise everything will be okay.” 

With that, Terra stepped outside of the small room and closed the door quietly. He didn’t know why, but he felt as though he could sympathize with Vanitas. He couldn't imagine waking up somewhere unknown with no memories of anything and having Aqua by his side, only for them to be forced away from each other. Master Eraqus had given a very brief explanation to the order:

_ “They must be separated, for they feed into each other’s darkness.” _

...Perhaps, Terra still didn’t have enough of a grasp on how darkness worked, but he failed to see how a frightened teen pulled away from the only person he could remember and felt safe with was the solution to _ any _ kind of darkness he may harbor.   
He sighed as he leaned back against the wall situated next to the arched marble door, letting his mind wander as he contemplated the sudden new life he was thrust into. 

In the room just behind the door, Vanitas held the green notebook between his palms. He flipped through the blank pages more times than he could count, and one of his floods spun the golden, metallic pen around with it’s thin, pointed arms. Gently, he took the pen from the Flood and gave the creature a soft pat on the head before turning his attention to the blank first page in the book.

The stationery was an off-white with delicate floral patterns printed in each corner of the page, and brown, dotted lines ran down the page evenly. Vanitas felt oddly at peace looking at the clean, decorative paper. A part of him didn’t want to ruin the perfection of it with his writing, but he wished more to take Terra’s advice.   
He placed the pen against the paper and began writing slowly in small, messy letters. 

_ I don’t really know what I’m supposed to do here. I’m scared and sad without Ventus, and I don't know why we have to be separated. I hope this “master” I’m with will listen to me. Maybe he’s just misunderstood? I don’t know. I’m still kinda nervous about that dream I had earlier, too. I hope I don’t have anymore like it. I don’t know how to feel about Aqua, but Terra’s really nice to me. I hope he’s nice to Ventus, too. I really want to see Ventus. I guess that’s all. _

Vanitas sat still and quiet after he finished writing. The sunlight peeking through the white curtains danced across his bed and his paper in shimmering beams. His Floods lay sprawled across the soft, cream-colored sheets, soaking in the light coming through the window. Though the turmoil of everything earlier had taken a heavy toll on Vanitas, and his anxiety about the future still ate away at his mind, he felt a moment of contentment in the small, warm room with his notebook and pen.

He closed the notebook and set it upon the bedside table to his left, and he simply waited.


	2. Decision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanitas continues trying to explain his memories as well as his ever-growing need to see Ventus again, though Eraqus remains stubborn. Terra decides to take the reigns in defending Vanitas, sympathizing with and determined to help the poor Wielder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is mostly a lot of set-up and slight character build-up, things will move forward a bit more in the next chapter!!

Vanitas lifted one of his drowsy Floods up and into his arms to cradle like a stuffed toy, an attempt to comfort himself in his aching loneliness that only grew and clouded his heart and mind. His quiet moment of peace and calm came to a painful halt as Vanitas’s worries, sadness, and uncertainty crept back into his thoughts. His fists balled up and the Flood squirmed slightly in his arms as though it were trying to reassure and soothe him back into his previous peaceful state. 

A sob broke from Vanitas while his mind began to race. He felt his heart tear upon thinking of Ventus again, wishing he were still wrapped in his arms and being held so delicately, being protected from everything happening to them, grounding and anchoring himself to his hazy new reality with the strong light that always radiated from Ventus. 

_ I need you. I need you. I need you. _

A pleading, loud mantra started in the depths of Vanitas’s thoughts and crawled their way up until the desperate words were the only thing that filled his consciousness. Vanitas nearly shrieked out his disaster of a mindspace when he heard a gentle knock against the marble door to his room. 

“Vanitas? Is everything alright?”

Terra’s voice filled the room instead, his concern obvious but not exaggerated in his firm tone. Vanitas shot his head upwards, his eyes reddened with tears that spilled with each blink. 

“Terra, I can’t take this anymore! Please, you have to let me see Ventus, you _ have _ to!” Vanitas cried out. The boy leapt out of his bed and fell to his knees in front of Terra as more wails wracked his form. “Please, please, please, Terra! I can’t be without him, I _ can’t! _”

Terra was thrown into a daze of shock over the boy literally _ begging _on his knees in front of him. A wave of sorrow crashed into him at the pitiful sight, and he knelt down to Vanitas’s level to speak. 

“Vanitas, c-calm down,” Terra stuttered, words failing him as he sped through his thoughts trying to find a solution to Vanitas’s situation. “I can’t… Vanitas, we were ordered to keep you separated by your former master, I—”

A panicked scream from Vanitas interrupted Terra’s feeble explanation, and Terra slid himself backwards across the floor as he witnessed Vanitas suddenly clutch his stomach and throat before vomiting a black, tar-like substance onto the wood beneath. 

Everything was happening far, _ far _ too quickly for the both of them.   
  
“Vanitas!” Terra exclaimed and moved behind the boy instead, instinctively placing his hand against Vanitas’s back in a comforting gesture. To his dismay, this only caused another loud reaction from Vanitas as he shrunk away from Terra’s touch and screeched again. He wept and sobbed in between coughing fits coupled with more and more black tar pouring from his mouth.  
  
Terra clenched his teeth and raised his hands behind his neck and tugged at the brown strands of hair between his fingers. He felt just as panicked and confused as Vanitas in this moment, and was utterly terrified by the sight of the hysterical boy vomiting up masses of darkness and screaming the name of the other Keyblade Wielder that lay sleeping in a small room on the other side of the castle.   
Just then, Aqua burst through the door and into the room, her eyes darting about frantically as her jaw dropped at the disastrous scene upon her. 

“Terra, what happened?!” Aqua demanded in a sharp tone that nearly slipped out as a growl. It took a few seconds for Terra to register the question and divert his attention away from the bubbling mess on the floor that Vanitas had made. 

“I-I don’t know!! He just started panicking and it just—I don’t know how to help him!”  
  
The chaos that filled the room only increased with each second as confused and frightened shouts were exchanged and questions were tossed about between Terra and Aqua. Vanitas had degraded into a coughing, weeping mess of a person who repeated a single name over and over as he sat upright on his bruised knees and wailed like a lost child. His cheeks were drenched in black tears that hadn’t ceased for what felt like an eternity, and the bubbling substance he had regurgitated began taking shape into several more small creatures not dissimilar from the Floods that had piled themselves onto the foot of Vanitas’s bed. 

“_What _ is going _ on _in here?!”

All three of the exasperated people shot their heads towards the new voice that had entered the room. Master Eraqus stood in the frame, his arms crossed and an angry scowl upon his face as he realized his pupils had gone against his orders.

“Master—” Terra tried to speak up, but Vanitas interrupted him by forcing his way towards the door.

“Ventus! Take me to Ventus, please!” Vanitas pleaded as he tried with all his strength to push Terra away and sprint out of his room in search of Ventus. Terra restrained the boy effortlessly, tightly wrapping his arms around his small and frail body—only for an ear-splitting shriek to fill the room again as Vanitas fell into complete disarray over the action. 

“LET GO OF ME!! LET _ GO _!!” 

Vanitas’s voice was hardly recognizable as his own anymore through the screechy, grating sound of it burning and tearing at his throat. Another agonizing moment and a flurry of shrieks later, Vanitas fell against the floor unconscious and out of Terra’s grasp. He hit the ground with a resounding _ thud _as his Unversed swarmed around his body, appearing as though they were shielding him from each of the three castle residents they now viewed as threats. 

Terra balled up his fists and swung himself around to face Eraqus, who was now struck with a wide-eyed, deer-in-the-headlights gaze.

“Master, can't we just let him see Ventus once?!” Terra questioned angrily. He was fed up with the orders he was given; he couldn't bear to watch Vanitas tear himself apart until_ fainting _from his shock and desperation any longer. 

“Absolutely _ not _, Terra,” Eraqus responded coldly as his eyes fixated on the sleeping Vanitas sprawled across the ground and covered in a dozen small monsters.

“These were strict orders given to _me _by Master Xehanort. We know nothing of these two and the danger they could put us in; and clearly, Vanitas is an obvious threat—”

Terra burst into a fit of anger before Eraqus could finish his reasoning. 

“So you're listening to Xehanort just because he told you one thing about these two?! He sure didn't tell you about any of this, did he?!” 

Aqua held a hand up against her lips, and her blue eyes were filled with anxiety as she witnessed Terra arguing with their own master. 

“Terra, now is _ not _the time for this—” 

“It's not the time for _ any _of this!” 

A gasp finally escaped Aqua’s mouth, and Eraqus _ glared _ at his student. Terra and Aqua both had received scoldings from their teacher over mistakes and misbehavior, but never before had Aqua seen such a cold _ fury _in her Master’s eyes. 

“_Terra _ , you will _ not _question me again like this. I expected better from you.” Eraqus’s typical calm and collected demeanor was slowly chipped away at by Terra’s ignorance and resistance, and his voice began wavering from his dwindling patience. 

“Well, it's a good thing this isn't about _ me _,” Terra refused to let down his argument and defense for Vanitas. 

Aqua felt almost dizzy from the exchange; she certainly never saw such a level of disobedience from her partner, and felt a tinge of uncomfortable sickness fill her stomach over how this would end. 

“This isn't about either of us,” Terra continued, his eyes icy and narrowed to match Eraqus’s glare. “The only thing these ‘orders’ have done for anyone so far is terrorize a young Wielder who can't even _ remember _anything else; are you really going to let yourself sink to that, Master?” 

Terra looked behind his shoulder to see Vanitas still passed out and being cradled and shielded by his monsters; he then faced his teacher once more, determined to keep this going until Eraqus realized the damage he was doing.

“You’re doing more harm than good for all of us by following whatever orders Xehanort wanted; he isn't even _ here _ , and he’s no longer Ventus and Vanitas’s master, anyway,” Terra continued on and on with his jabs at Eraqus’s logic and demands. “You can punish me all you want after this, and maybe I deserve it, but I can’t let something like this slide, Master. _ You _ taught me that light was always the answer, so how are _ you _so content with reinforcing this boy’s darkness?” Terra’s last words came out in a sharp hiss. 

Eraqus only stared at him, completely stupefied by each and every one of the words that Terra had spoken with such intensity and confidence. Aqua shared her master’s stunned response and felt as though her entire body had been frozen over and nailed to the floor below. Eraqus was the first to finally speak up after the tense moments that followed the argument. 

“We… will speak to the boy when he’s woken.” 

With this, Eraqus simply turned around and marched down the hallway back to the main room of the castle once again. This only proved to further Aqua’s shock and confusion, and Terra himself seemed surprised by such a casual and calm response from his master after the tension-filled spat between them. 

Immediately after Terra had fallen back into the reality of their current predicament, he knelt down over Vanitas’s unmoving body. The Unversed hissed at his arms that moved towards the boy, but they didn’t attack him as he slowly and carefully lifted Vanitas up and set him back down upon the bed. 

“Aqua, I’ll keep an eye on Vanitas this time. You go make sure Ventus is still stable,” murmured Terra in a much less confident voice than the one he held so strongly just minutes ago. 

Aqua, still trying to regain her composure, only nodded and in a swift motion, left the room and made her way towards where Ventus was situated.

“I’m so sorry about all of this, Vanitas,” Terra began, though he knew his words went unheard by the sleeping boy. “I promise, I’ll do whatever I can to reunite you and Ventus. I don’t believe either of you are a threat, and this is the last thing you deserve at a time like this.”

Vanitas did not stir or wake to hear such a promise, and his chest continued to rise up and down at a slow, rhythmic pace in the quiet room with Terra at his bedside. 

* * *

* * *

_ I need you back _.

_ Where are you? _

_Ventus._

Vanitas found himself situated in yet another blackened void of a world. His ears rang at an almost deafening pitch as his eyes passed over his surroundings in an attempt to spot anyone, _ anything _in the seemingly endless abyss. 

_ Ventus, where are you? _

Vanitas’s chest felt uncomfortably hollow and ached to be filled with the warmth of the person he so desperately yearned for in this non-existent world. He found no trace of his other half, no trace of any light in the inky air that threatened to swallow him whole if he proved unable to locate the light that would grant him freedom. 

_ Please, come back to me. _

Vanitas’s quiet voice only echoed around him, only served to reinforce the absolute solitude that tore every last bit of comfort and softness out of his heart and left him empty and broken.

_ I miss you _.

Nothing came of Vanitas’s cries this time. His partner never appeared, never stood in front of him, never stared at him faceless and motionless, never came to hold him and protect him. 

Ventus wasn’t there this time.

Vanitas was all alone. 

_ I’ll find you. _

* * *

* * *

Vanitas’s head felt as though it was being swung back and forth in a spinning world as he slowly regained consciousness. His throat burned, his head pounded, and his face was uncomfortably dry, the skin plastered with streams of blackened tears that were never wiped away. Vanitas finally turned his head to the side, and at first didn't even register Terra, Aqua, and Eraqus standing in the doorway and muttering amongst one another. In a matter of seconds, though, Vanitas’s brain came to a full response of him shouting out and pulling the tangled blankets laid across him up to his chin. This reaction brought Terra, Aqua, and Eraqus into the room and fully attentive towards Vanitas. 

“S-stay back!” Vanitas, for a moment, almost seemed as though he were attempting to appear intimidating, as though his demand was more of a threat than a plea, but in the quivering, raspy voice that came from his mouth, the words were everything but. 

“Calm down, Vanitas, we’re only here to speak to you,” stated Eraqus in a far softer tone than the one he used to argue with his pupil earlier. 

“Are you… going to listen?” whispered Vanitas, and any true hope or confidence the boy clung to before had vanished all in an instant. 

“Yes, Vanitas, we will take this time to listen to you now,” Eraqus reassured, and the three castle residents all chose to sit beside the bed where they could listen better to Vanitas. 

“Vanitas, I’ve been made aware that there are still some things you recall about Ventus. Can you explain these memories?” Eraqus began with what should have been a simple question, but Vanitas found himself struggling to give a coherent answer to the query. 

“I… um… it’s still… hard…” Vanitas could barely muster the words as all of his mental energy was directed towards gathering the remnants of his memories about Ventus. Thankfully, the other three kept their patience and allowed Vanitas the time he needed to think.

“All I really know is that… Ventus is my light…. He keeps me safe, and I keep him safe, too…. We… need each other.” Vanitas wore a melancholic expression as he spoke, and his eyelids drifted downwards as he felt his chest lurch in a painful longing for his light. 

Eraqus exchanged a puzzled glance with his students. What Vanitas stated went against Xehanort’s words; the two brought out the darkness within one another. If Ventus was truly this boy’s “light”, then any darkness between them would be eradicated when they were together. Eraqus remained wary, however, a slight tinge of uncertainty floating in his mind still about whether or not Vanitas was being entirely truthful in his claim. 

“S-sir,” Vanitas broke the silence. “I promise neither of us wants to hurt anyone, or each other, so please, let me see Ventus again.”

Vanitas was beyond weary at this point. His voice cracked with every sentence he spoke, his eyes were heavy and stung, and his desperation for the company of the only one he remembered clawed at his shattered heart. Before Eraqus could respond to this, Terra spoke up again, still in complete defense for Vanitas.

“Master, I think we should trust what he says; he has no reason to lie to us, especially if he can't remember anything to lie about.” Terra pointed out, seemingly reading Eraqus's mind, and Vanitas flinched a bit after hearing this.

“L-lie? I’m not lying at all, I swear!” Vanitas claimed, and his anxiety began brewing all over again as shivers chilled his spine over the thought of nobody believing what he knew in the deepest part of his existence to be true. 

Eraqus stroked his beard slowly as he contemplated everything that had been said between them all. Too nervous to make a decision too hastily, he made a final statement regarding the matter:

“Vanitas, we will allow you limited time each day to visit with Ventus.” 

Vanitas was far from satisfied with this resolution.

“No!” he cried, slamming his palms against the soft mattress he sat upon and sending a jolt of shock through the three castle residents. “Please, just let us stay together always! We can’t be separated for that long, there’s no reason for it!” Vanitas reverted back into the pleading and begging state that he had been forced into far too many times at this point. 

Aqua’s face fell into her hands as her stress and confusion skyrocketed from yet another one of Vanitas’s episodes. Terra, too, was irked by Master Eraqus’s solution to the issue.

“Master, if you’re going to let them see each other at all, why not let them simply be at all times?” Terra’s voice was almost venomous this time as he argued. “What’s the point of letting them be together if only for a ‘limited time’? What difference does it _ make _?” 

Eraqus inhaled sharply and opened his mouth to respond, but immediately paused as he failed to gather any words to counter Terra’s. Silent up until now, Aqua finally stood up and made a comment as well.

“Master, I apologize if I seem ignorant as well, but perhaps Terra is right…” Aqua, unlike Terra, simply seemed more concerned with ending the repetitive episodes that Vanitas was experiencing than figuring out what truly was happening between the two Wielders. To their dismay, Eraqus shook his head. 

“We need to make absolute certain that no further darkness is formed within these two. In order to do that, we must take this one step at a time and carefully monitor their interactions. Vanitas will have an hour a day with Ventus until further notice.”

Rather than allowing his pupils to debate any further on the matter, Master Eraqus stood from where he was seated and walked out of the room without another word. On his way out, he slammed the large door against its frame, causing the three remaining Wielders in the room to jump. Aqua and Terra slowly turned their focus towards Vanitas, who sat completely frozen in place, a look of utter terror streaked across his expression. He began releasing a quickening pace of rough exhales as he fell forward and clutched his abdomen, and an onset of cries forced their way out of his mouth while his breathing became too rapid for his lungs to keep up with.

“V-Vanitas! Calm down, calm down, you have to breathe slowly—” Terra frantically tried to console the panicking boy in fear that he would suffocate himself in between hyperventilation and literally drowning himself in his tears. 

“I can’t… I can’t!! I _ can’t _!!” Vanitas fell apart repeating his sentence over and over as many times as he could through his increasingly painful breaths and sobbing. In the midst of his panic attack, he mindlessly leapt out of his bed and took a dive towards the door of the room. His mind felt completely barren of anything except for the instinctual need to find Ventus. 

“Vanitas!” called Aqua, and both she and Terra were surprised by the speed at which Vanitas could run. 

Vanitas’s mind was now spinning round and round with an endless tornado of thoughts solely about Ventus and finding him again. Unversed poured from his shadow by the dozens as he sprinted down the glittering corridor, some nearly tripping him as they clambered around his legs in the same dazed panic as Vanitas.  
A chase quickly ensued between the three of them, and Aqua, without knowing what else to do, summoned her Keyblade and rose it high into the air. 

“Sleep!”

The moment Aqua called the word, a bright flash of light shot from her blade as silvery waves rushed forward and dissipated as they hit the Unversed and Vanitas. All of them immediately collapsed to the floor as a wave of drowsiness took them over instantaneously.   
Aqua and Terra darted forward, nimbly avoiding the twitching bodies of the sleeping Unversed and crouched beside Vanitas’s slumbering form.

“Terra, we _ can't _keep letting this happen,” Aqua started, her breaths heavy and her frustration growing.

“Why would you ever challenge the Master like that?” she interrogated while helping Terra lift Vanitas’s body up.

Terra frowned and furrowed his brow when Aqua asked her question. 

“Aqua, this is happening _ because _the master placed such a strict order on them!” Terra nearly shouted out his response, and almost carried Vanitas too harshly as a result of his anger. 

“Think about it—if you just woke up somewhere with no memory of your entire life, and there was only one other person you could remember who was with you, would you feel content being forced to stay away from them without the ability to understand why?”

Aqua bit her lip at this, realizing she couldn't answer Terra. He had a point with his arguments. 

“But, Terra, we don't know anything about these two, and like the Master said, the order came from someone who _ did _know about them. He’s the only one we can trust.” Aqua finally replied as they returned to Vanitas’s room with the boy situated in their arms. 

“So what? Xehanort didn't mention this—did you not hear anything I said to the Master earlier? Regardless of what anyone says, we won't know anything about how these two interact if we don't see it happen, and apparently trying to separate them makes _ this _happen instead!” Terra growled. 

Though his anger tore through him, he made it his utmost priority to remain gentle with Vanitas’s frail body as he placed him back upon the soft bed and spread a large blanket on top of him. Aqua only sighed, realizing that Terra wasn't exactly wrong, and that she was already weary from the sheer amount of stressful tantrums and episodes Vanitas was having with every attempt at interaction. 

“I’m sorry, Terra… I just…This is all too much, too fast… I’m sorry for snapping at you.” Aqua’s apology was rather feeble, and she found it impossible to properly string her words together in her turbulent state of mind. 

“I’m not angry with you, Aqua, but you need to be more understanding of this situation,” Terra replied, also lowering his voice and his temper.

“I know you want to follow the Master’s orders to a T—that’s not a bad thing, but sometimes things are too complex for something as simple as following a command, you know?” Terra added pointedly, and Aqua felt her heart sink as she began to reconsider her behavior and notice just how much difficulty she was causing both herself and the newcomer. 

_ These two are going to train with us eventually… this is the worst first impression I could have ever made… _

“You’re right…,” Aqua murmured, her voice hardly past a whisper. She and Terra let out a collective sigh and looked back down at Vanitas sleeping soundly, completely unaware of the turmoil occurring between the two.

“We have to go about this some other way. This isn't just about me, or you, or the master—this is tearing Vanitas apart, too,” Terra inhaled sharply after speaking his thoughts aloud. He then glanced to the side, staring at the empty space between the floor and the bed.

“Aqua, please, as my partner, promise that you’ll try this with me.”

Aqua appeared more sullen than ever as she slowly nodded her head.

“We’ll make this okay somehow, Vanitas—and Ventus.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> vanitas has 20 meltdowns while terra aqua and eraqus have an epic rap battle (terra wins)


	3. Found You Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanitas finds himself awake and alone in the Land of Departure, and panics once more over his absent partner. Terra, having enough of the torment Vanitas has been put through thus far, decides to sneakily bring Vanitas to Ventus's room and allow them to reunite. Though their initial reunion is lovely and peaceful for the most part, it takes a sour turn when they're interrupted by the castle's residents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiii sorry i took months to update this, i haven't had the motivation or energy to really write at all for a while but i'm finally getting back into the swing of things thanks to re:mind!! and i 100% plan on continuing this story even if hiatuses arise again!! i hope this chapter is enjoyable!! <33

Vanitas felt as though he was floating in mid-air with nothing to grasp and nothing to carry him in the cold, dark void that his mind had taken him to each and every time he slept. This time, he felt somewhat aware of the fact that he wasn't conscious, but felt unease and panic rising up within his mind nonetheless. 

He almost began to flail and scramble for something, anything to grab onto and use to ground himself within the unforgiving abyss, but instead felt his body cease any and all motion at the sensation of a hand trailing up his spine.

His anxiety peaked and subsequently faded all in a matter of seconds as the single stroke became many up and down, soothing motions across his scarred back. His heart slowed, his breathing quieted, and his eyelids drooped as the warmth of the touch against his skin enveloped and overcame his cold and aching body. 

_ Ventus _.

Vanitas blinked his eyes open once more as the light massaging against his back continued, a hint of a smile spreading across his lips and his gaze turning to face the boy who had rescued him from an otherwise empty and loveless world. For only a split second did he catch a glimpse of the blonde-haired boy his heart adored so dearly. 

He didn’t quite catch sight of his face—a blur of motion had filled his vision instead, but he could still piece together those beautiful emerald eyes filled to the brim with light, those sweet pink lips akin to flower petals pressed against each other, and that gentle adoring smile that, without words, told Vanitas he was okay and that he was safe now.

_ I found you. _

Now Vanitas found himself against a hard, wooden floor. The boards beneath him lacked any softness and felt almost painfully cold against his body, but he didn't care. Ventus—_ his _Ventus—was there with him, holding him close and shielding him as they both lay beside each other and felt the warmth of their bodies pressed up to one another. 

Vanitas ignored the chilling pricks of iciness that climbed up through him from the floor below, and he paid no mind to the fact that his surroundings were warping and vanishing with every passing second. 

He gazed forward, his only focus being on Ventus’s face, his face that was once blank slowly regaining its features in blurry splashes of color. As Vanitas felt the world slipping away, Ventus’s blurred face had nearly become crystal clear to him.

_ I’m here now _.

* * *

A back-and-forth swaying motion in his senses greeted Vanitas as he slowly regained consciousness and was pulled back into the waking world again. His head felt like a feather slowly drifting to the ground while he blinked several times to clear his blurred vision. With dismay he realized he was not being held or caressed by his beloved Ventus, but rather was still stuck within the plain, small room that felt nothing short of distant and unwelcoming. 

Vanitas felt the slightest tinge of a headache coming on, followed by various other dull aches of pain pulsing through his body as he attempted to sit upright and maneuver his way around the tangled blankets and sheets that clung to his body. He groggily tossed pillows and soft blankets off to the side and into the floor as he scrambled to sit upright, realizing slowly as he regained his senses that the room was now much darker. 

Horrified, Vanitas frantically pushed himself off the bed, a small yelp of shock leaving him as he tripped over the blankets previously strewn about and landed on the cold wooden floor beneath. Ruby eyes darted across the blackened room as Vanitas desperately tried to make out his surroundings in the poor light. For some reason, being shrouded in such darkness made an uncomfortably familiar sense of fear claw through his heart, and he instinctively curled himself into a tight ball on the floor. He pressed his knees to his face and wrapped his arms around himself in some pathetic attempt to feel safer in the room, and felt tears welling up in the corners of his eyes as realization after realization crashed into him in a matter of seconds.

It was night. He was still in that room, and it was night. He hadn’t seen Ventus yet, he had been asleep for some amount of time and still hadn’t seen Ventus, and it was _ night _. He was alone, all alone with nobody to comfort him and nobody to scold him, nobody to drive a heavy Keyblade into his back and nobody to soothe his pain.

_ He had never been alone at night… _

Vanitas froze as the thought crossed his mind. A flood of vague memories and feelings had overcome him in just a few short moments, and none of them had given him answers. None of them were vivid enough for him to place, and it felt like a sick joke his own mind was playing on him. Remnants of memories were present, but still so distant that they simply tormented him further with more confusion and fear. 

_ Why had he never been alone at night? _

Vanitas cried out in anguish as a powerful wave of loneliness and pain struck him. He was so alone, so helpless, so lost and confused and he _ missed _Ventus. He needed his light, he needed him by his side, needed to protect him and be protected by the only thing that made sense in his mind. 

“Ven...tus…,” Vanitas sobbed, his weak voice breaking through more chokes and wails that crowded his throat and lungs. 

He began tugging at his long bangs, pulling at messy strands of hair in a desperate need to be holding something—holding _ anything _as he cried to himself and his chest ached for comfort and love from another person who wasn't there. 

Vanitas nearly leapt out of his skin at the sound of the door clicking open suddenly.

“Vanitas?” 

The calm, quiet voice was one Vanitas began to associate with safety—even if only a little. Terra stood peeking through the small gap between the two marble doors, his brown eyes filled with concern and sorrow as he took in the sight Vanitas had laid out—an empty bed with its blankets, sheets, and pillows tossed around the floor and a weeping raven-haired boy curled up and crying to himself in the corner of the dim room. 

Terra himself felt his own wave of sorrow fall over him as he gazed upon the dreadful sight. The situation earlier in the day was already terrible, and the whole scenario repeated endlessly in his mind and tormented him to the point where sleep refused to relieve him.

He’d had enough.

“Vanitas… follow me, and keep quiet,” Terra began softly, but still held a firm tone in his voice.

“I’m going to take you to see Ventus.” 

This time, Vanitas actually leapt up and burst into a sprint towards the door, nearly crashing into Terra who had to catch the boy to prevent his fall. 

“Vanitas—calm down!” Terra whispered sharply as Vanitas burst into another fit of sobs. The sound was muffled through Vanitas burying his face into Terra’s clothing, but a sense of anxiety still crept through Terra as he worried that Aqua or Eraqus had heard them.

“Vanitas, you have to stay calm, I’m… not supposed to do this, but we can see Ventus without anyone knowing, just—”

“Thank you… so much…”

Vanitas tried with all his might to control the spilling tears and broken cries and to follow Terra’s directions, but his heart only welled up more and more with anticipation and _ longing _with each and every second. Terra only nodded in response, though he’d be lying if he said Vanitas’s simple words hadn’t warmed his own heart. Without wanting to waste another moment of precious time, Terra urged Vanitas forward, gesturing to keep quiet as he could while Terra lead the way towards Ventus’s room. 

Vanitas struggled with this, and every bone in his body wanted to break into a mad dash towards where Ventus lay sleeping in the castle—but the threat of it all being ruined by him simply alerting another resident was enough to keep his urge at bay. Terra ushered Vanitas towards the room on the opposite side of the castle, quickly but stealthily making his way towards Ventus’s room with the other boy keeping pace at his side. 

In a trek that felt like it had taken but a hundred years, Terra finally stopped Vanitas in front of another set of large, wooden double doors with golden handles. Vanitas reached forward to pull the door open, but Terra quickly intervened with an outstretched arm.

“Vanitas, before we go in, you need to understand that Ventus is unresponsive at the moment,” Terra explained to the anxious teen, and he noticed Vanitas trembling violently with a wide-eyed gaze towards the door.

“I don’t care. Just let me see him.”

Terra was taken aback by the sudden change in tone with Vanitas. The words weren't shaky, nor desperate wails or begging. They were almost cold, almost callous, and sounded more like a demand than a plea. Vanitas hadn't even turned to face Terra when he spoke. His clawed fingers continued to grip the golden handles tightly while he stared at the door unblinking. 

Terra swallowed hard, pushing his thoughts aside and nodded once more to Vanitas. Without wasting another second, Vanitas pulled apart the large wooden doors with a resounding creak. Terra flinched at the sound, still paranoid of his master or Aqua finding them and putting a stop to this. 

Vanitas had already ran into the room, and Terra stumbled in after him, making sure to close the doors behind him quickly and quietly. He nearly flew to Vanitas’s side and kept him from walking forward once more.

“Vanitas, don't—…” Terra suddenly trailed off after seeing the look on Vanitas’s face. 

At the very end of the room lay the other boy, Ventus. He rested on his back with his hands folded across his stomach. He was fast asleep, and his chest rose and sank rhythmically with each slow breath he took in.

Vanitas was frozen in place; he could only stare at the sleeping boy for those first few seconds. Feeling after feeling crashed into his heart and threatened to break him all over again. His ruby eyes were wide and welling with tears, and after several silent seconds, he began stumbling forward.

“Ventus…” the voice that left Vanitas barely sounded like his own, the words breaking and full of both shock and relief as he stretched his arms forward. 

“Vanitas, wait,” Terra halted the raven-haired boy again, keeping his forearm firmly against Vanitas’s chest to keep him from moving any closer. 

“No…,” Vanitas whimpered as tears spilled and he choked back a sob. “No, no, no, give me Ventus, let me be with him, please, please…”

Vanitas fell apart all at once. He sunk to the floor and underneath Terra’s arm to crawl towards Ventus’s sleeping form. 

“Vanitas, stop—!” Terra clambered to pull Vanitas away, but the boy had already taken hold of the bed’s wooden frame, and he held _ tightly _.

“Let _ **go ** _ of me.” Vanitas’s strange and rare venomous tone returned a second time as he whipped his head around and _ glared _at Terra. A startled gasp was all Terra could muster, and he quickly chose to follow Vanitas’s demand and pushed himself backwards against the floor.

_ Vanitas, what has gotten into you? _

Deep burgundy eyes that were usually full of softness and melancholy now felt as though they had pierced Terra’s very being as Vanitas gave him a stare that felt like a warning. Terra heeded such a warning, and stayed in his place, though fear crept through his chest as his mind agonized over Vanitas doing something that would ruin his only chance to reunite with the other boy. 

He was proven wrong only seconds later. 

Vanitas turned his head back towards Ventus, and the sharp and defensive demeanor vanished as he stared intently at his sleeping partner. His posture loosened up and his tense expression melted away into a soft and saddened gaze. Every bone in Vanitas’s body wanted to pull Ventus up, hold him, and never let go, but he felt glued to the spot, frozen and fixated on Ventus’s sweet face. 

“Ventus…,” Vanitas whined as he slowly raised a trembling hand up and gently placed it against Ventus’s cheek. For as badly as Vanitas wished to pull him from his slumber, some part of him felt utterly terrified of hurting him, of _ breaking _him as though he were a fragile treasure. 

Ventus did not respond to his name or the light touch, and Vanitas felt his heart crack. He wept as he placed his other hand around Ventus’s face and pushed a few strands of golden hair out of the way. Vanitas’s breaths turned heavy as more sobs forced their way through his throat. Ventus was _ there _ , he was finally with him again, he could _ hold _ him and see him and be next to him again. But why, _ why _wouldn't he wake up? 

Mixed emotions tossed and turned themselves in Vanitas’s shattered mind, and without so much as a warning, several shadowy monsters pulled themselves from the boy as he cried out.   
Terra, having remained quiet and stationary to this point, suddenly leapt upwards and summoned his Keyblade. The small monsters scrambled their way towards Ventus, but before they could reach the boy, Terra quickly slashed through their forms. 

Vanitas suddenly fell to the ground and wailed as a surge of sharp pain shot through his body. 

“V-Vanitas!” Terra yelped as he saw the boy writhing on the floor. Terror and a tinge of guilt passed over him as he bent down to aid Vanitas.

“T-Terra, you can't…,” Vanitas groaned as he clutched his chest. “You can’t… hurt them…” Another pained cry interrupted Vanitas. “It hurts… me…,” Vanitas gasped as he struggled to lift himself back up. 

Terra’s calm and level head had abandoned him as confusion and remorse rained down upon him. 

“V-Vanitas, I’m so, so sorry, you just… you can't—”

Both of them froze at the sound of the bed behind them creaking. Terra and Vanitas whipped their heads around and stared wide-eyed as they witnessed Ventus, who had been fully comatose prior, suddenly lift himself up and turn to face them. Vanitas lost all sense of restraint and control as he jumped off the floor and into Ventus’s arms, knocking them both into the bed’s soft mattress. 

“Ventus!!” Vanitas shouted as he wrapped his arms around the other boy and squeezed far more tightly than he should have. He held his beloved Ventus with every last ounce of strength left in him and _ bawled. _ His face was shoved into the crook of Ventus’s neck, and his tears spilled ceaselessly as he cried out the boy’s name over and over.   
Ventus, though dazed and unable to fully process such sudden events, still reciprocated the affection and slowly pulled his arms up and around Vanitas. His hold on his partner was just as tight, and his fingertips were nearly digging into Vanitas’s skin. 

“Vanitas…,” Ventus whispered, his voice hoarse and raspy, but tinged with love and relief. 

Vanitas felt his heart explode upon hearing Ventus’s soft voice again after so long. 

“I’m here… I’m with you…,” Vanitas cried, tightening his grip around Ventus, terrified to even loosen his hold on the boy. 

“Vanitas…,” Ventus repeated calmly in a hushed tone. He mirrored all of Vanitas’s affection, pulling him closer and holding onto him tighter and tighter until his muscles ached. 

Neither of them took any note of their environment. They had become so wrapped up in each other that nothing could ever begin to separate them or pull them out of each other’s gazes and arms. Ventus ran a slow hand up and down Vanitas’s rough spine, and Vanitas nuzzled his entire face into Ventus’s neck and shoulders while running his fingers through the messy blonde locks of hair atop Ventus’s head. Soothing shivers passed through Vanitas with each gentle motion from Ventus’s hand against his back, and for a moment, both of the boys felt so peaceful and safe with one another that they nearly fell back asleep together in those few minutes. 

Terra, still frozen to the spot in front of the bed, could only stare in awe as he witnessed the display in front of him. More questions poured into his thoughts as he recalled the Master’s statement and reasoning for separating the two wielders:

_ They feed into each other’s darkness. _

But, in those short minutes of blissful reunion, Terra could sense no darkness between Ventus and Vanitas. In fact, the light and love between them both was so powerful that Terra could _ feel _it radiating from the two. The chaos and turmoil that had wracked Vanitas the entire time he had been in the Land of Departure seemed to be whisked away into nothingness by Ventus’s mere presence. 

“Vanitas…,” Ventus repeated a third time as he gazed down towards his partner. 

“I won't… ever leave you again…,” Ventus murmured with his lips close to Vanitas’s ear. Vanitas shivered and exhaled sharply as another intense wave of emotion squeezed his heart. His clawed fingers nearly bore holes into Ventus’s jacket as he clung to him, and his heart felt as though it were tugging itself forward towards Ventus’s own heart to meet and meld into it.

The beautiful and euphoric reunion between the two boys was suddenly—and forcefully— interrupted through the loud sound of wooden doors creaking open. Terra, Ventus, and Vanitas all turned to face the door in shock, and each of them felt their veins turn to ice upon seeing Eraqus and Aqua standing in the open doorway.

“_What _ is all of _ this _, Terra?” 

Eraqus hadn’t even attempted to stifle the anger in his voice this time. Terra couldn't muster a response before his master marched into the room and pulled him off of the floor to face him. 

“What have I _ told _ you? How _ dare _you disobey my orders in such a despicable manner?” Eraqus’s questions rang with fury, and Terra could only shudder as he felt his words catch in his throat. 

“Sneaking behind my back just so you can do the _ only _thing I have told you not to do….” Eraqus paused his rambling to look past Terra’s quivering form and back towards the two wielders cradling each other in the same manner that he had first seen them in when they arrived.

“Ventus, Vanitas. You will _ not _be seeing each other any longer,” Eraqus hissed in a fit of rage as he pushed himself past Terra and stomped towards Ventus and Vanitas. 

“**_No_**.”

Eraqus froze upon hearing the venom-toned word leave Ventus’s lips. 

“You aren't going _ anywhere _ near me, _ or _Vanitas,” Ventus growled as he pulled Vanitas even closer to his body. 

Eraqus made an offended expression before he retorted, “That is _ not _your decision, Ventus. You have no place above my orders, either.” 

Ventus’s icy emerald gaze didn't falter.

“You have no place to order _ me._”

All of the castle residents were taken aback by this statement. Aqua and Terra looked onward, completely stunned by the exchange, and Master Eraqus himself appeared to waver in his own firmness and anger. 

Ventus did not hold back, however. 

“If you _ dare _ try to take Vanitas away from me again, I’ll make sure you were sorry you ever even _ looked _at him.”

Ventus’s harsh words and fiercely cold tone stung the air in the room. Aqua felt dizzy, even stumbling slightly as shock, confusion, and terror clouded her senses. Terra stabilized her with a grip around her shoulders, though he wasn’t far from Aqua’s state.

Eraqus narrowed his eyes and glared at the golden-haired boy. 

“And _ that _ is precisely why you cannot be near Vanitas. You’re a danger to us all around him, and a danger to yourself,” Eraqus replied sternly. 

“Oh, I’ll be a _ lot _more of a ‘danger’ to you if you so much as lay a hand on Vanitas.” Ventus’s green stare met Eraqus’s, and he only held his ground further and further with each new remark from the master. 

“Master _ Eraqus_,” Terra whispered sharply, breaking the heavy tension between Eraqus and Ventus.

“Just—_listen _ to these two, and listen to _ me,” _Terra began, raising his voice slightly as Eraqus turned his stare towards him.

“Before you came in, I saw what happened between Ventus and Vanitas when they met again,” Terra explained through words trembling with frustration. “There was absolutely no darkness between them. The light, Master Eraqus, the light between them both was akin to the _ stories _you've told me.” 

Eraqus raised an eyebrow at Terra’s explanation, and quickly attempted to shut him down once again.

“I don't know how you expect me to believe that, Terra. Have you not heard a thing Ventus has said? He’s threatened us all!”

“Because _ you _ forced him to that!” Terra was shouting back now, and Vanitas shrunk into Ventus’s chest once more as terror rose through him. 

“_You _ are the one causing this. You won't listen to me, or anyone on this matter, when everything so far has pointed to you being _ wrong _ ,” Terra was relentless in fighting back with Eraqus now, refusing to let him continue this any longer. “Ventus and Vanitas would be fine for all of us if you wouldn't force them through more pain by doing this! How can you be so blind to the fact that _ you’re _the one bringing out their darkness?!”

The air around the castle members felt like it had chilled with the silence that fell over them for several heartbeats. Eraqus did not respond, and only glanced back towards Ventus and Vanitas. Ventus narrowed his eyes and held onto Vanitas as though he were a precious jewel. 

Master Eraqus finally released a sharp exhale before he looked at Ventus and Vanitas once more.

“I will give the two of you one more chance to show me you don't harbor darkness within one another.” Eraqus seemed satisfied with his proposition, but Ventus quickly objected.

“You will let Vanitas and I stay together at all times or you will see nothing but our darkness,” the boy stated in his icy tone. 

Eraqus nearly argued back, but kept his mouth shut instead. He crossed his arms and nodded once.

“If you are going to live and train with us, you will not hurt any wielder within this castle," Eraqus demanded coldly.

“And I won’t, so long as you don't try to take Vanitas away from me," seethed Ventus.

Eraqus and Ventus shared another tense gaze before Eraqus finally backed down and headed towards the wooden doors. Before exiting, he turned to face Terra.

“If anything goes wrong it will be on _ you_, Terra,” Eraqus grumbled before turning away and leaving through the large doors.

Terra blankly stared forward in a daze before facing Ventus and Vanitas once more. Vanitas was sniffling and completely non-verbal while Ventus tossed his own callous attitude to comfort him softly again. Aqua had not spoken up during the stressful exchange, but she, too, felt surprised by the vast difference between Ventus only moments prior and the Ventus she witnessed now, gently cradling Vanitas and whispering sweet, soothing words to him. 

_ Everything will be okay, Vanitas. _

_ I won’t ever leave your side again. _


End file.
